Group seeks to reduce Oklahoma's high incarceration rate

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A coalition of business and faith leaders pushing a package of bills aimed at lowering Oklahoma's highest-in-the-nation prison incarceration rate are running into a familiar obstacle — the state's elected district attorneys.

Led by former Republican House Speaker Kris Steele, the bipartisan group hosted a rally on Tuesday and called on the Legislature to pass the package of bills aimed at stopping Oklahoma's skyrocketing prison population growth.

The bills would reduce criminal penalties for several nonviolent crimes and retroactively apply a state question approved...